Poll: Seniors Oppose Obamacare Plans

Senior citizens – one of the groups that President Obama’s healthcare reform is supposed to help the most – are overwhelmingly opposed to his plan.

A lower percentage of seniors expect the reform plan to benefit them personally than any other age group, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Seniors – defined as 65 and over – see healthcare reform decreasing rather than increasing their access to healthcare by a margin of 36 percent to 12 percent.

And more expect their medical care to worsen than improve by a margin of 39 percent to 20 percent.

In the 18-49 demographic, 25 percent expect their access to be improved, while 23 percent expect it to worsen. And in the 50-64 range, 34 percent see their access shrinking, while 22 percent see it expanding.

Apparently seniors don’t have much need for expanded insurance coverage, as only 3.6 percent of them lack health insurance now, according to Gallup.

It’s not just that seniors don’t see healthcare reform helping themselves. Only 24 percent think that healthcare reform will broaden general access to healthcare, while 43 percent say it will narrow access.

And only 34 percent of seniors think healthcare reform would improve medical care in this country, compared to 42 percent who think it will worsen care.

Maybe that’s why Obama’s job approval rating fell to 49 percent among seniors at the end of July, down from an average 54 percent during June and from 61 percent at the start of his tenure in January.

Seniors have another reason to be wary of healthcare reform. The major reform bills in Congress would trim more than $150 billion over the next decade from private health plans that account for more than 10 million Medicare beneficiaries, The New York Times reports.

Senior citizens – one of the groups that President Obama’s healthcare reform is supposed to help the most – are overwhelmingly opposed to his plan.A lower percentage of seniors expect the reform plan to benefit them personally than any other age group, according to a recent...